Guadalajara - John Ryder has put his 'trust' in the judges to award him a decision victory in Canelo Alvarez’s first fight back in his hometown for 12 years.
Ryder arrived in Guadalajara at the weekend after finishing off his training camp and sparring at Manny Robles’ Los Angeles gym last week.
He is a huge underdog against the undisputed super-middleweight champion, who has never lost a fight on home soil over the course of his 18-year, 62-fight career.
He has not boxed in his hometown since he beat another Brit, Ryan Rhodes, way back in 2011 and a huge crowd is expected to come out to support their hero on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
But north London's Ryder believes he will be given a fair shake by the judges and insists he is capable of winning on points at a packed Estadio Akron and repeat what Dmitry Bivol did in Las Vegas 12 months ago.
When asked whether he thinks he needs a knockout to win, Ryder said: “No, not at all.
“In the contract, it’s three neutral judges, a neutral referee. I think we saw in the Bivol fight, it will be judged fairly on the fight. We’ve got to trust in the judges to do their job properly.
“Often if you go looking for a knockout in a fight, it will never come, because you’re too desperate to get it. So I’m fully focussed on what I do and doing it well, and coming away victorious.
“I’m not going to get greedy and go for a stoppage. You’ve got to give Canelo the respect he deserves — he’s been a great champion for many years. I’ve gone looking for stoppages in the past, and then made a hard night’s work of it. I’m gonna go with what I do best — box, be sensible and listen to the words of the gameplan that Tony Sims has set out for me.”
Ryder is also expecting to be greeted by a hostile atmosphere but insists he is mentally strong enough to handle it like he did when he boxed Callum Smith in the champion's home town of Liverpool.
In what was his only other previous attempt at a world title, Ryder lost on points but many believe he did enough to win the fight.
He added: “I don’t know if I’ll ever fight in front of another crowd as hostile as this. But I think the Mexican fans are all fight fans, so they might boo me on the way in, but as long as we give them what they want in the fight, I’m sure they’ll cheer me on the way out.
“In Liverpool, against Callum Smith, there were a few cutthroat gestures and stuff like that. It’s to be expected, you’re taking on their hometown hero.
“But if [a crowd is] for me, I’m absorbing that, it’s spurring me on, but if they’re against me, you’ve got to block it out and be that mentally strong side where you can really spur yourself on.”